New Video: Famous For Dying

We teamed up again with video director Lior Molcho to make this deliciously gory and over-the-top video. He had long wanted to do something like this with us. We also had special effects support from horror icon Walter Phelan. So here it is:

#69 The Whaler on 10-14-11

We were quite eager to play the Whaler again, and this time Hello Vegas actually got to play as well. We once again had Jason LaRocca on keys (though his laptop tried to not work just before we played) and the show was a sweaty fun fest. There was a crazy dancing man (always a plus) and lots of positive shouting. We won over Venice a second time.

#68 Silverlake Lounge on 10-13-11

This show was planned well in advance and we made a point of getting in touch with the other bands ahead of time to cross promote as much as possible. This made for a great evening of camaraderie. We played with Old Monk (from NY), Small Hours and Worrier. Worrier had a great lighting setup on stage, and were an impressive live act. I spent a lot of time talking to the other bands and it was quite enjoyable. The other amazing part of this show was Jason LaRocca (old band chum of mine, from the Briggs) played keys with us, adding a lush supportive element that really belongs in our music ALL the time.

#67 TAIX on 9-28-11

TAIX is a French restaurant in Silverlake. We were invited by Lost Marauders to play this show. They are a bit of a 'hard rock' trio. Sadly Francis was deathly ill, so he stayed sleeping in the car until the last possible minute. It was a mostly female audience, but could have been more well-attended. It reminded me that there are 10,000 places for a band to play in Los Angeles, and some are better than others. The show went off well, but an inter-personal freak out by one of the women at the show left a bad taste in our mouths.

#66 The Whaler on 9-16-11

photo by Deuce Janisch

We were invited somewhat short notice to play this show. Hello Vegas invited us as they couldn't play themselves, however one of them di some DJing.

The club has a lot of windows and I was told we were playing downstairs, but it doesn't look like a rock venue. Surprisingly, men came in carrying large black pads and began covering all the windows. It was very official. Suddenly it became a dark, enclosed rock cave, ready for bands. I played with glasses, but they fell off early and didn't stay through the set. It was very loud in the room, and an older sailor-looking man danced right in front of me for most of the set. Sweating happened. We tried 'Counting Down Your Life' again in all its drum-track glory, but it didn't work out so well, at least in my mind.

"We thanked Hello Vegas for the invite, and they paid us." We met a fun outspoken 'internet mogul' who was very chatty and refused to let me go without doing a shot with him, but let me get away with a shot of water.

#65 Hard Rock Cafe on 8-25-11

AMAZING. This show set a new standard for how I think shows should be. We played to an audience of dinner patrons from a variety of cities/countries. The stage was SO large, so we all had room to stretch out and perform. I had a headache and felt super nauseous right up to the show, but Wayne told me to shut up and quit bitching. Somewhere into playing our first song I felt elated and didn't feel bad the rest of the evening. It was SUCH a fine show. Strangely, it was supposed to be Wayne's last show (for a variety of reasons) but we made no further mention of it, as I really felt that it was not going to be his last show. We also debuted a new song, "Counting Out Your Life".

#64 Louis Alvarez going away party on 8-20-11

Our chum Louis Alvarez who booked us for Downtown Artwalk decided to move to Portland, and asked us to play a backyard party. I'm always excited about these things as they tend to be really casual and you get to play and then hang out and actually to get to know people. This particular crew was great as they are all cyclists, and a nice mix of people. There was some very nice food at this party in addition to the burgers, like caprese salad. I forgot my bass cab, so we had to have someone race it out to us. It was a fun performance, and the party goers seemed to really enjoy it. Great night.